Bella India
Case Study: Bella India
Bella Healthcare was founded in year 1969 in Saint Louis by the brothers Greg and Todd Bella. The American company is a manufacturer for medical health monitoring devices.
At the end of the 1980s, Bella Healthcare had already sales offices in Europe and other Asian markets with the idea of creating the first manufacturing facility outside the boarders of the United States. The main target was an industrial area (The Export Promotion Industrial Park) with a very good infrastructure and a strong local labor force in Bangalore, India. The key idea was to build a low-cost manufacturing and a lean oriented production management with the aim of keeping Bella Healthcare as competitive and as lean as possible.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the director of manufacturing Joseph Cherian accepted the position at Bella India with the idea of demonstrating that his home country was an excellent place for international companies to invest. During the 1980s and 1990s there was an increasing amount of net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, only in 1977 there was a negative net FDI which had been compensated in the next years. The fact that in the 1980s many companies have left the country was not so crucial for its economy, but the amount of the private capital was skimpy with just $ 0.2 billion p.a. from year 1985 to year 1990. The Indian economy was totally refreshed during the 1990s and experienced a steadily increase in the inflows with round $ 6 billion in 1996 – 1997 (Athereye and Kapur 1999). The following tables (OECD 1989 and Athreye and Kapur 1999) will show the development of the foreign investments in India:
In the early 1990s, the manufacturing facility in Saint Louis was operating near its limits. Therefore, the company decided to move the production of Raddit 601 to Bangalore. In the following years, the decision made by the Head Quarters yield good results and at the end of the 1990s, the facility in India was
Bella Healthcare was founded in year 1969 in Saint Louis by the brothers Greg and Todd Bella. The American company is a manufacturer for medical health monitoring devices.
At the end of the 1980s, Bella Healthcare had already sales offices in Europe and other Asian markets with the idea of creating the first manufacturing facility outside the boarders of the United States. The main target was an industrial area (The Export Promotion Industrial Park) with a very good infrastructure and a strong local labor force in Bangalore, India. The key idea was to build a low-cost manufacturing and a lean oriented production management with the aim of keeping Bella Healthcare as competitive and as lean as possible.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the director of manufacturing Joseph Cherian accepted the position at Bella India with the idea of demonstrating that his home country was an excellent place for international companies to invest. During the 1980s and 1990s there was an increasing amount of net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) into India, only in 1977 there was a negative net FDI which had been compensated in the next years. The fact that in the 1980s many companies have left the country was not so crucial for its economy, but the amount of the private capital was skimpy with just $ 0.2 billion p.a. from year 1985 to year 1990. The Indian economy was totally refreshed during the 1990s and experienced a steadily increase in the inflows with round $ 6 billion in 1996 – 1997 (Athereye and Kapur 1999). The following tables (OECD 1989 and Athreye and Kapur 1999) will show the development of the foreign investments in India:
In the early 1990s, the manufacturing facility in Saint Louis was operating near its limits. Therefore, the company decided to move the production of Raddit 601 to Bangalore. In the following years, the decision made by the Head Quarters yield good results and at the end of the 1990s, the facility in India was